Governor Gregoire Favors Fish Over Child Safety

Gov. Gregoire considers ocean water more important than stopping the abuse of children by the legal system. There are executive orders available for the ocean, but Gov. Gregoire cannot do anything to stop her office from abusing families. Gov. Gregoire, where is our apology and protection to raise well-adjusted children?

Gov. Chris Gregoire, center, prepares to sign an executive order as she sits with members of a panel she formed to address the issue of ocean acidification, Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2012, at the Seattle Aquarium in Seattle. Gregoire’s order directs the Department of Ecology to work on the problem of ocean acidification by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, keeping polluted runoff out of marine waters, and increasing water monitoring. (TED S. WARREN/The Associated Press)

SEATTLE — Rising acidity levels in the oceans pose a serious threat to shellfish and other marine life, and tackling that problem in Washington state will require reducing carbon dioxide emissions, keeping polluted runoff out of marine waters, and increasing monitoring at hatcheries, a group of experts said Tuesday.

The panel of scientists and policy experts convened by Gov. Chris Gregoire recommended dozens of actions to combat changes to ocean chemistry detected several years ago when oyster larvae in Pacific Northwest hatcheries began dying in large numbers.

“There are ominous signals coming from the ecosystem on this issue, as ominous as anything coming from climate change,” said Jay Manning, former state ecology director who headed the panel with former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Bill Ruckelshaus.

Gregoire, who formed the group as part of a state and federal initiative to help protect the state’s $270 million shellfish industry, signed an executive order Tuesday directing the Department of Ecology to work on the problem. She also announced $3.3 million in funding for some actions in her proposed budget.